A ‘perfect storm’ brews in the Middle East

TEL AVIV, ISRAEL: Mistrust between the Obama administration and Benjamin Netanyahu has widened even further in recent days because of US suspicion that the Israeli prime minister has authorized leaks of details about the US nuclear talks with Iran.

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The decision to reduce the exchange of sensitive information about the Iran talks was prompted by concerns that Netanyahu’s office had given Israeli journalists sensitive details of the US position, including an offer to allow Iran to enrich uranium with 6,500 or more centrifuges as part of a final deal.

Obama administration officials believed these reports were misleading because the centrifuge numbers are part of a package that includes the size of the Iranian nuclear stockpile and the type of centrifuges that it is permitted to operate. A deal that allowed 500 advanced centrifuges and a large stockpile of enriched uranium might put Iran closer to making a bomb than one that authorized 10,000 older machines and a small stockpile, the administration argues.

An initial report Sunday by Israel’s Channel 2 TV news that the administration had cut all communications with Israel about the Iran talks was denied by White House spokesman Alistair Baskey.

This latest breach in the US-Israeli relationship began around Jan. 12 with a phone call between President Obama and Netanyahu. Obama asked the Israeli leader to hold fire diplomatically for several more months while US negotiators explored whether Iran might agree to a deal that, through its technical limits on centrifuges and stockpiles, extended the breakout period that Iran would need to build a bomb to more than a year. But Netanyahu is said to have responded that a year wasn’t enough and to have reverted to Israel’s hard-line insistence that Iran shouldn’t be allowed any centrifuges or enrichment.

Obama was concerned because the United States had shared with Israel its goal of a one-year breakout period since the beginning of the talks. The White House saw Netanyahu’s comment as a change, one that could potentially scuttle the negotiations. The Israeli response is that Netanyahu has always argued for “zero enrichment.”

Relations began to unravel quickly. On Jan. 21, House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, invited Netanyahu to address Congress and share his concerns about the talks. This hadn’t been pre-negotiated with the White House, as is usually the case when foreign leaders are invited to address Congress.

Then came the alleged leaks about the nuclear talks. On Jan. 31, the Times of Israel reported that an unnamed senior Israeli official had told Channel 10 TV news that the United States was ready to allow more than 7,000 centrifuges and had “agreed to 80 percent of Iran’s demands.” Channel 2 reported that the US offer was 6,500 centrifuges. US officials believed that Netanyahu’s office was the source of these reports and concluded that they couldn’t be as transparent as before with the Israel leader about the secret talks.

Asked for comment, an official in Netanyahu’s office said: “The details of the last round of negotiations are known in Washington, Paris, London, Moscow, Beijing, Berlin and Tehran. It is perplexing that a decision would be made to try to keep those details a secret from Jerusalem when Israel is threatened by Iran with annihilation and its very survival could be threatened by a bad deal.”

Next month could shape the future of the Middle East, not to mention the US-Israeli relationship, for years to come. Netanyahu’s speech to Congress is scheduled for March 3. Israeli elections, in which Netanyahu is running against a coalition of more moderate Israeli politicians, will take place March 17. The deadline for reaching a framework deal in the Iran negotiations is March 24.

Iran policy isn’t the only short-circuit between Washington and Jerusalem. The administration also fears that Netanyahu is ignoring a potential new blowup with the Palestinians. US intelligence reports indicate that the Palestinian Authority, which governs the West Bank and has nominal authority in Gaza, could run out of money as early as next month. The United States fears that, were that to happen, the civil service and security force in the West Bank could collapse, creating a new crisis for Israel and the region.

The Israeli government dissents from this dire assessment. Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon said in comments Monday to a conference of the Institute for National Security Studies here that the Palestinians were making an empty threat.

The money crunch stems from Israel’s decision to withhold tax revenue it collects on behalf of the Palestinian Authority. This was retaliation for the Palestinian move last fall to pursue legal action against Israel in the International Criminal Court.

The Obama administration is considering various options to show Israelis and Arabs alike that it is still serious about pursuing a Palestinian peace agreement, despite the impasse reached last year in US-brokered talks.

One option under active consideration is a new UN Security Council resolution containing the framework that Secretary of State John Kerry developed during the talks to deal with such key issues as Israeli security, the status of Jerusalem and the rights of refugees.

The “perfect storm” metaphor is overused. But one may be brewing in the Middle East as Israeli, American, Palestinian and Iranian interests collide in a vortex.

1 Comment

I would trust netanyahu more than i would trust obama. As for the iranians i wouldnt trust them one inch. All the world knows they want a nuclear weapon & what happens if they get it. First israel would be the first to get bombed & 2nd i have no doubts the iranians somehow would give a bomb to terrorists for them to hurt america or some other western country. Iran is a country run by mullah’s & they want islam to be the worlds religion. They have for years sponsored terrorism throught the world so a firm stance must be taken against them. Treat them with kid gloves at your peril.